Piltown v St Patrick’s Ballyragget
Nowlan Park; Sunday, 2pm
St Patrick’s Ballyragget have a score to settle with Piltown.
The Saints were cruising in the 2003 final, leading comfortably at half time, but Piltown came back to force a draw and went on to win the replay. It is only now that Ballyragget has recovered from that setback.
Sunday is a whole new ball game. These are two new teams with a very young age profile. The background is similar as each club have won under-21 B titles.
When the teams clashed in the league earlier this year, Piltown took the points. However, St Patrick’s have had the better league campaign, and went on to win the northern championship.
Bill Costelloe, secretary of the southern club, explains.
“Last year we played great hurling in the league and then our form dipped and we were well beaten in the southern final by John Lockes. I think we only got one point from play,” he said.
“This year has been the opposite and we seem to be coming right, in the knock-out championship. Tom Duggan and the selectors seem to have timed our run perfectly so far. The semi final went well for us but I think Lisdowney under-performed.”
The new format to the Junior Championshiphas been a huge success and the fact that we played and won our semi-final in Nowlan Park is great preparation going into the final.”
Ballyragget were the unlucky team in last year’s championship. They drew with neighbours Lisdowney and went on to win the replay. By the time they played the northern final, they were playing for the fourth weekend in a row, picking up a number of injuries along the way.
A final quarter blow out against Barrow Rangers saw them exit the championship. This year has been more straightforward, according to club chairman Philip Kenny.
“We had three hard games in a row this year against Bennettsbridge, Thomastown and O’Loughlin Gaels,” he said.
“We were well ahead against O’Loughlin’s in the semi-final but they came back at us in the second half and that has us on our toes for the final. We’ve put in a massive effort this year and Maurice Aylward’s experience of being involved in big matches and big occasions has played a huge role in keeping the squad focused on each game.”
Both finalists have been racking up impressive scores in the championship, hitting the magical 16 to 20 points total that wins most matches.
The return of Mark and Robbie Culleton has effectively given the Piltown team two new forwards. The McCarthys – their cousins the Brophys – along with the Kenny brothers, sprinkle this team with loads of skill and hurling ability.
Ballyragget have sublime hurlers in the Brennans, the Gannons, Kevin Kelly, team captain Kieran Delaney and the power central attacking duo of Seoirse Kenny and Brian ‘Tom’ Phelan.
The club have had a tough passage to the final, and they have seen off potential winners in Bennettsbridge and Thomastown. It could be said they won those games with a bit to spare.
Piltown had an easier route with a win over neighbours Windgap, an easy win over Slieverue in the quarter final and then that eye-catching victory over Lisdowney.
Each year the team from the northern half of the county go into the final as favourites, but recent history has shown that the southern clubs have negotiated the final hurdle more successfully with John Lockes and Tullogher Rosbercon coming up trumps in two of the last three finals.
Ballyragget have been my tip for the junior championship this year, and if they can avoid getting over-anxious about winning the final, they can prevail.
